TENNERTON – Brody McDaniels threw for two touchdowns and 84 yards as the Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School Little Bucs cruised to a 38-14 win over visiting Tucker Valley Thursday night at Freal “Red” Crites Memorial Stadium.
Going to a spread offense for some of the game, McDaniels was an efficient five of six passing to propel the Little Bucs to the win, as they improved to 5-0 on the year.
“We having been wanting to air it out a little bit and you can see why,” stated Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School head coach Dave Chipps. “Brody has a heck of an arm and reads the field well. We are going to keep working on the passing game because Brody gives us another offensive weapon to choose from.”
The Little Bucs took the opening kickoff of the game and on their first offensive play of the contest, Dylan Foster went 47 yards for a touchdown.
Aiden Snyder was true on his kick as the Little Bucs owned a 7-0 lead just 20 seconds in.
The Little Bucs took over their next drive at their own 15-yard line.
Aided by a 40-yard run by Brody Jeran, Foster ran it in again from a yard out and Snyder was good on his kick as the Little Bucs took a 14-0 lead with 34 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
The Little Bucs aired it out on their next drive as McDaniels hit Chance Morgan underneath and Morgan ran over a few Tucker Valley defenders on his way for a 44-yard receiving touchdown.
Snyder was good on his kick again as the Little Bucs took a 21-0 advantage with 5:26 left in the second quarter.
Jeran hauled in a 20-yard touchdown reception from McDaniels with 2:47 left in the half for the Little Bucs’ fourth score.
Snyder’s kick made it 28-0, which was the score at the intermission.
Luke Barb put Tucker Valley on the scoreboard on their first drive of the third quarter when he ran it in from five yards out.
The two-point conversion came up short as the Little Bucs led by a 28-6 margin.
The Little Bucs answered that score on their next possession when Forest Catlin ran it over right tackle from three yards out with 2:06 showing on the third-quarter clock.
Snyder drilled the extra-point kick making it a 35-6 contest.
Snyder made a 29-yard field goal, just three yards short of the Little Buc record, early in the fourth quarter to increase the Buckhannon-Upshur lead to 38-6.
Barb scored late in the game on a 37-yard run and Ethan Cummings ran in the two-point conversion for Tucker Valley to wrap up the scoring.
“We probably saw the best player we have seen all year in Barb,” said Chipps. “I have to give Tucker Valley credit, they played hard but we rose to the occasion. We just keep getting better. This is just a good group of players to work with.”
The Little Bucs will be in action Wednesday when they visit Mountaineer (Harrison) Middle for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
The boxscore:
Tucker Valley 0 0 6 8 – 14
Buckhannon-Upshur 14 14 7 3 – 38
(Scoring)
Buckhannon-Upshur – Dylan Foster, 47-yard run (Aiden Snyder kick).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Foster, 1-yard run (Snyder kick).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Chance Morgan, 44-yard pass from Brody McDaniels (Snyder kick).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Brody Jeran, 20-yard pass from McDaniels (Snyder kick).
Tucker Valley – Luke Barb, 5-yard run (run failed).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Forest Catlin, 3-yard run (Snyder kick).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Snyder, 29-yard field goal.
Tucker Valley – Barb, 37-yard run (Ethan Cummings run).
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – Tucker Valley: 9 (8 rushing, 1 passing, 0 penalty); Buckhannon-Upshur: 10 (8 rushing, 2 passing, 0 penalty).
Rushing yards – Tucker Valley: 33-138; Buckhannon-Upshur: 20-172.
Passing yards – Tucker Valley: 56; Buckhannon-Upshur: 84.
Total yards – Tucker Valley: 194; Buckhannon-Upshur: 256.
Passes – Tucker Valley: 3-4-0; Buckhannon-Upshur: 5-6-0.
Penalties – Tucker Valley: 2-14; Buckhannon-Upshur: 3-26.
Punts – Tucker Valley: 2-26.5; Buckhannon-Upshur: 0-0.0.
Fumbles – Tucker Valley: 2; Buckhannon-Upshur: 1.
Fumbles lost – Tucker Valley: 1; Buckhannon-Upshur: 0.
All-return yards – Tucker Valley: 47; Buckhannon-Upshur: 100.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Tucker Valley – Luke Barb 18-136 (2 touchdowns); Cayden Arnold 6-7; Brayden Bennett 7-1; Ty Ricotili 2-(-6). Totals 33-138 (2 touchdowns).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Dylan Foster 6-84 (2 touchdowns); Brody Jeran 3-56; Forest Catlin 3-21 (1 touchdown); Kayden Baisden 1-8; Easton Metzner 1-4; Branson Triplett 1-3; team 1-0; Zack Simmons 4-(-4). Totals 20-172 (3 touchdowns).
Passing
Tucker Valley – Barb 3-for-4 for 56 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions.
Buckhannon-Upshur – McDaniels 5-for-6 for 84 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions.
Receiving
Tucker Valley – Arnold 1-48; Ricoltili 2-8. Totals 3-56.
Buckhannon-Upshur – Chance Morgan 1-44 (1 touchdown); Jeran 1-20 (1 touchdown); Catlin 2-12; Foster 1-8. Totals 5-84 (2 touchdowns).
